'The Alaskans' entertained TV viewers

Limiting our review of TV Westerns to just those set in what became the lower 48 states would exclude one of the genre set in the cold North.

"The Alaskans" was a Western (much of Alaska is west of the rest of the U.S.) set in the fictitious Eagle City, Alaska in 1898.

A pre-James Bond Roger Moore was the biggest name in the cast, but Dorothy Provine was a lead for obvious reasons. Roger was Silky Harris, a smooth fast talker (Harris, Silky Harris) while Dorothy played Rocky Shaw -- guess what, a beautiful saloon singer. They were joined by Reno McKee, a rugged hulking cowhand (ex-cow hand?).

The unlikely three teamed up seeking to get rich (quick) in the last great Klondike Gold Rush.

As you might guess, Rocky spent a lot of time entertaining in the dance halls of Dawson and Skagway. The producers knew Dorothy Provine in parka and mukluks would not provide much sex appeal.

In the meantime, Silky and Reno tried to figure out a way to mine gold that an avalanche had buried in deep snow. The two of them encountered a plethora of bushwhackers along the cold trail as they searched for the gold.

Good guys must have bad guys to threaten their possibilities and one of the two most prominent was Nifty Cronin as played by smooth-looking Ray Danton. Nifty was -- besides being nifty -- a saloon owner whose scruples were more than questionable. He delighted in having others do his dirty work.

Advertisement

The other blackguard was Soapy Smith, a wheeler-dealer who didn't hesitate to cheat, steal, swindle or even murder to get what he wanted. John Dehner, another great "western face" was Soapy. These two plus an array of henchmen and other no-goods challenged the trio weekly for one season of 36 episodes.

Warner Brothers Television produced the show and arranged for Mack David and Jerry Livingston to create the music. After it concluded in September 1960, four of the five principal actors went on to other venues.

In this period of performance-enhancing supplements, it may be important to note that of Hank Aaron's 755 home runs, 385 were hit at home and 370 were hit on the road and he never hit more than 47 in a single season.

Perhaps a remotely related comment from Gates Brown, former major league baseball player, "In high school, I took a little English, some science, some hubcaps, and some wheel covers." As I recall, he never stole many bases in the big leagues.

She's left us for perhaps a big aquacade in Heaven, but Esther Williams will always be known as the only person to have swum with the cartoon characters, Tom and Jerry.

Nothing like an effective marketing program. Fifty percent of Americans are self-conscious about dandruff. Only one-third of them actually have it.

With the appearance of a number of vampire movies on today's playlists it's important to not forget one of the classics: "Billy the Kid vs. Dracula" from 1965. The plot is simple. Dracula travels to the Old West set to put the bite on a pretty lady ranch owner. Problem for Drac, her fiance is Billy the Kid.

Just in case you weren't paying attention. If you mailed a letter before 1963, it didn't have a ZIP code on it.

Jim Willard, a Loveland resident since 1967, retired from Hewlett-Packard after 33 years to focus on less trivial things. He calls Twoey, his bichon frisé-Maltese dog, vice president of research for his column.